In industrial practice for the cracking of hydrocarbon feedstocks, typically large cracking furnaces are used and the feedstock is exposed to high temperatures, in the "cracking" range, and the process is typically carried out in the presence of steam. Because the hydrocarbon feedstocks have varying compositions, it is important to determine in a simple and efficient way the optimum cracking conditions required to obtain the products desired. For instance, it is frequently desired to convert a hydrocarbon feedstock composed of C-5 through C-12 hydrocarbons into cracked products such as ethylene, propylene, methane etc.
However, depending upon the composition of the particular feedstock employed under a given set of cracking conditions, more-or-less of the desired aromatic fractions will be obtained, and the yield thereof will be maximized only if optimum cracking conditions are employed.
It is therefore important that prior to initiating such industrial cracking furnace operations, such optimum conditions first be established for each hydrocarbon feedstock to be introduced therein.
Currently, such optimum conditions are sometimes computed through the means of mathematical models based upon data previously collected in prior cracking experience. However, such computations are in practice somewhat unreliable. Alternatively, it has also been the practice to develop data for predicting the cracking behavior of a given hydrocarbon feedstock by the use of semi-technical scale test cracking furnaces. While the data obtained from such procedures is usually more reliable than that computed from a mathematical model, such tests at the semi-technical scale level are nonetheless time consuming, somewhat complicated, and the test unit is not readily adapted for simple laboratory use.